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Simple, genuine Moroccan hotel in heart of the medina near Jemaa el Fna. It is very cheap, at 100 dirhams (about £6-7), very basic, but clean. You ony get a basin in your room, but the beds are comfortable, and the hotel clean. There are a few rooftop rooms - try to get one of these if you can! Excellent place to stay if you want to see the real Marrakech, and are travelling on a tight budget.
On a tiny alley near Jemaa el Fna - you can always ask.
If you want to buy some tea glasses, head for this shop just behind the Spice Bazaar. There's a wide range and, as it isn't a tourist-oriented shop, you can buy them cheaply and individually (thus avoiding the overpriced sets a few metres away in the Bazaar).
Go out of the exit at the junction of the 2 sections of the Spice Bazaar and turn right.
Watson's Way, run by Pat and Paul, is a clean, welcoming hostel in the little village of Renwick bang in the middle of Marlborough wine country.
Toast and jam is provided for breakfast, there's a nice lounge with a television. Bikes are available for hire ($10 if you're staying at the hostel) and Pat will offer tips for the best route around the wineries and which ones to visit for tastings.
On SH6/SH63. Blenheim is the nearest town.
We went to Mallorca for 2 weeks and this was the best food we ate while we were there.
It's a small restaurant, seating maybe 20 at the most - it's business card says, Bistro, Cocina de Mercado.
The food was amazing - they have a fixed 5 course menu that changes each month for 22.50 Euros and it was just incredible: I remember mostly the caramelised pate, chicken and asparagus in filo, there was a fish dish, and a beautiful desert that had fresh strawberry or raspberry sorbet.
Much better than the restaurant at Hotel Portixol by a coutry mile or three.
I'm thinking of going back every month.
15 C. Fabrica, and the phone number is 871 94 16 04
For a great cheap place to stay on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, I like Jazz on the Park Hostel. I was only there for two nights but thoroughly enjoyed the pub crawl and the great location.
It's often difficult to find good Mexican food, and it's often difficult to find good food in South Beach period. But Lime Fresh Mexican Grill on Alton Road is a fantastic exception. I highly recommend the chicken mole burritos for about US$8. It's great food on a budget.
When I was in Rethymno, Crete in 2001 I was told about a hostel in a village called Plakias that I should go visit. I went down to Plakias and ended up staying for weeks, and returned several times over the next few years. There is great snorkeling and hiking within walking distance of the hostel. This is one of the best hostels I've been to in many years of travelling.
A clean, reasonably priced hostel near the station and well located for all of the city centre. Some rooms en-suite. Internet access. Friendly staff.
Tel 0039-055-282086
Via Faenza n°63
www.ilghiro.it
Valognes is a small town with a lot of character, good, small hotels and restaurants, and a market on Friday mornings. The town's heyday was in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries, when some spectacular buildings dominated the place, such as the wonderful Hotel de Beaumont. However, like most towns in Normandy, the weeks following D-Day devastated most of Valognes and what remains is a tribute to the determination of the people who survived that time and rebuilt their town. Valognes is worth a stay for its own sake, because it lies at the centre of an interesting region, and for the fact that it is close to the ferry port at Cherbourg but retains its own distinctive and attractive character.
18km south of Cherbourg; signs for Valognes, off the N13.
The 6.30 pm mass is celebrated in one of the Romanesque crypts of the abbey. Turn up at the abbey entrance ten minutes beforehand and you'll be escorted up to the church.
In winter, the floodlights shining through the huge Gothic windows give the church an eerie moonlit feeling. In summer, it's your chance to see the church for a few minutes devoid of tourists. And the singing is usually good.
Website where you can barter for a price for a hotel room. Rooms get cheaper on weekends as businesspeople stay at home. It's almost always cheaper than booking directly. You don't get to know exactly which hotel you'll be staying at - only the area. But a room's a room, innit.
I've just got back from a week at Rapture Surf Camp in Portugal. The beach in Ericeira is excellent with great waves. The surf camp is based in a chilled out villa 3 minutes walk from the sea.
You get friendly and knowledgeable surf guides who will tell you where to surf and give you pointers, decent hearty meals and a communal living room with comfy sofas, widescreen tv and dvds where you can hang out with other travellers and relax after a hard days surfing.
The town itself has plenty of bars and some good restaurants. You can get a great Brazilian steak for 10 Euros
I paid just over 200 Euros for 6 nights, surf lessons, wetsuit & board hire, breakfast and dinner and a ride to the airport. Bargain.
It is a 40 min drive from Lisbon airport, they will pick you up for 15 Euros, or there is a bus for around 5 Euros, which takes a little longer.
www.rapturecamps.com/
Nepalese restaurant: really interesting food. Another of the rare restaurants where you can have a short set menu for an excellent lunch or early evening meal for 20 Euros.
28 Eustace St,Temple Bar,Dublin 2.
Phone:(01) 670-4911
Lebanese restaurant with some interesting and different dishes. One of the relatively few places where you can get a quality early evening meal for less than 20 Euros - but it goes up a lot after 7pm.
11a St Andrew Street Dublin 2 (01) 677 2121
Elegant well-restored Georgian building with Arts & Crafts murals and giant coat of arms in Rotunda, with some really good restaurants close by. Don't forget the official measurement outside on the wall.
Cork Hill, Dame Street, Dublin 2
Probably both the cheapest and the most authentic pizza I've had in Vietnam. Proper oven, proper ingredients, proper training, no messing around!
And the prices are sure to please. Located within walking distance of the backpacker district. Note the shop is very small, only a few small tables available facing the noisy traffic.
76 Nguyen Trai, District 1
Tel: 9 181 688
A mixture of German beer bar (kneipe) and restaurant with many German dishes. Big portions, small prices.
Schanzenstraße 87 20357 Hamburg
Tel: +49 40 436620
While there are plenty of great hotels in Berlin, staying in an apartment proved much better value. We had a huge one-bedroom place in Kreuzberg, where the bathroom alone was about the size of our whole flat in London. And it was £25 a night each. This website has loads of different apartments all over Berlin or varying sizes. A great way to feel like a local while being on holiday.
Fantastic Vietnamese cafe/bar, serving unbelievably cheap fresh noodles, soups, dumplings and juices in a trendy bit of Mitte. Young and cool and always very crowded, with a picture of Monsieur Vuong on the bright yellow and red walls. A welcome respite from too many wursts!
Alte Schonhauser Strasse 46, Mitte
www.monsieurvuong.de
It is right by Lake Tekapo and is a small campground right on the edge of the lake. There is an honesty box to pay your camp fees which are only $5 per person per night. There are toilets there too.
Turn right after Lake Tekapo and head in the direction of the observatory. Carry on after the observatory and turn left. Signposted as a dept of conservation area. Or ask at the visitor info before you leave the village.
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